Kate Po for Viceversa Squirrel Nutcracker, Italy, c. 1990s

A squirrel, a walnut and one extravagantly oversized tail — a practical kitchen tool turned into a small piece of playful Italian design.

Designed by Kate Po for Viceversa, this sculptural nutcracker transforms a familiar household object into something rather more theatrical. The polished aluminium squirrel sits above a recessed cradle for the nut, while its long curling tail forms the operating lever. Place the nut into position, lower the tail and the mechanism does the rest.

Viceversa, founded in Italy in 1983, became known for bringing humour, colour and unexpected forms into everyday domestic objects. Kate Po worked as a product designer for the company, and the squirrel nutcracker is one of the designs associated with her time at Viceversa.

Its rounded, highly polished form has a distinctly Mid-Century-inspired character, which explains why examples are sometimes described on the vintage market as 1950s or Mid-Century. The piece itself, however, belongs to the late 20th century, most plausibly the late 1980s to 1990s.

The squirrel and mechanism are mounted on a dark wooden plinth, creating a pleasing contrast between the reflective aluminium and warm wood. The metal base carries both the Viceversa logo and the impressed inscription “design VICEVERSA”, identifying this as an original branded Viceversa example. Later unbranded reproductions of the squirrel form can be found on the market, but these differ in their construction, materials and markings.

Fully functional and just a little excessive for cracking a walnut — which is precisely part of its charm.